John Jinapor, the Member of Parliament for Yapei/Kusawgu, has refuted claims that the loan agreement between the government and the World Bank for $200 million to fund the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project was unanimously approved by MPs.
Jinapor emphasized that it would be unjust to blame the Minority caucus for the passage of the agreement, as they strongly opposed it but lacked the necessary numbers to block it.
Interacting with journalists, the ranking member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee pointed out that the loans were only approved by the Majority and argued that the agreement would worsen the already-existing economic challenges faced by Ghanaians.
“It’s not true that the House unanimously approved those loans. If you look at the committee’s report it will tell you that it was by Majority decision. The committee’s report will attest to the fact that the Minority side objected. So the Majority carried the day by one single vote”.
“Today, the voice vote clearly indicated that we, the Minority side gave an emphatic “no”. The Speaker gave it to the Majority side because they have the numbers. If anybody wants to blame the Minority for the insensitivity and incompetence of this government, I think that it will be very unfortunate and unfair,” he explained.
However, the Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. John Kumah noted that the loans are not new agreements but loans already contracted.
“These are not new loans, they are loans we have already taken on in our books. We want to put it on record that these are loans we have already contracted on our books and require Parliamentary approval. Parliament just approved the agreement between government and Development Bank Ghana. These are not new loans, they are loans we have already taken on in our books. We want to put it on record that these are loans we have already contracted on our books and require Parliamentary approval,” Mr. Kumah said.
Responding to this, John Jinapor lashed out at the Deputy Finance Minister for being disingenuous with his comment on the loan agreements.
“The Deputy Finance Minister was being disingenuous, to say the least. John Kumah should take his time, learn from past experience and move away from this narrative because it will not help him at all,” he asserted.
